Prior folding knives have employed releasable locking mechanisms including release operable mechanisms projecting from or mounted on a side of the knife handle (see U.S. Pat. No. 272,858 to Korn; U.S. Pat. No. 530,792 to Nordlow; U.S. Pat. No. 812,601 to Schrade; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,521,778 to McLag) but none of these prior arrangements has provided a locking and release mechanism that would hold the blade in a firm open position while also providing a convenient and easy way to operate a handle-projecting control device for facilitating the opening and closing of the knife.
Prior art mechanism have employed spring elements for engaging a notch in the blade tang but the spring elements have not been housed to prevent deflection during use of the blade nor has the handle-projecting device been located and housed to effectively control its release.